I’m not going to Oregon to see the eclipse because I saw the last one in 1979. It wouldn’t be worth it. , and if you have seen one, …

I was working on a highway construction project a few miles south of Hood River, Oregon, on the Mount Hood Highway. There was a few inches of snow on the ground so there wasn’t much work activity on the project that day. I was in the job office trailer shuffling paper. I had heard about the coming eclipse and what a once-in-a-lifetime experience it was to be.

When the time approached, I left the job office trailer and walked across the road, out into a bright, snow-covered pasture for the best, unobstructed view I could get. There were some hills around, and trees, but the action was pretty much straight overhead as I recall. I think it was probably 11AM +/-. You could look it up.

Then the moon started to obstruct the sun. You could see that it was getting dimmer out, even though it had been a very bright blue day.

Just as the eclipse was nearing totality, I noticed rippling light waves on the snow, like the ones at the bottom of a swimming pool. This was the only special effect that I noticed. The other one was that at the moment of totality, some people reported hearing a “click.” I didn’t hear that. I can’t imagine what would have caused that.

It did get pretty much as black as night. I don’t remember seeing stars. I don’t really recall looking straight at it. The warnings had been out not to do that.

Totality didn’t last very long. The process started reversing, then it was over. I don’t remember how long the whole thing lasted.

That’s all there is to a solar eclipse.

Really, don’t bother.

Although it’s a rare event for us, eclipses have been happening since the beginning of the universe, predictably and consistently. Not as common as the sun coming up in the morning, but